Blake’s eyes shot open and every muscle in his body tensed. The room was pitch black, as it should be in the middle of the night, and Willow slept soundlessly beside him, but something had woken him.
He sat up slowly. Concentrating. Listening.
There it was again. The noise that had pierced his sleep—the crunching of grass beneath shoes. And heartbeats. Maybe five or six. Not only at the front of the house, but at the sides too.
They had visitors.
Leaning over, he touched Willow’s shoulder, giving it a small shake.
A low groan fell from her lips. “Blake?”
“There are people outside. We need to get up.”
Her eyes flew open, and she jackhammered into a seated position. “Mila—”
“We’ll go to her now.”
He grabbed his phone from the bedside table, sending a quick message to his team. Then, reaching behind his headboard, he grabbed the gun strapped to the wood.
Willow was already on her feet, wearing one of his shirts that reached her knees. He tugged on a pair of pants and took her hand, tugging her behind him as they moved out into the hall. Even though she’d be almost blind in the darkness, he could see everything.
When they stepped into Mila’s room, the soft haze of her nightlight cast dim redness throughout the room. Willow ran to her side, lifting her from the bed. Mila only stirred slightly before snuggling into Willow’s chest.
Blake turned off the nightlight, wanting the advantage of darkness, before leading Willow into the hall and instinctively toward the back of the house.
They’d almost reached the end of the hallway when the deafening sound of glass shattering exploded throughout the house. The master bedroom window. The living room window. Even Mila’s bedroom window where they’d just exited.
Blake tugged Willow behind him, close to the wall, using his body to shield her and Mila as four people, all with guns drawn, stepped into the hall from the three rooms. One man carried a camping lantern, which cast a dim glow over the hall.
His muscles tensed, finger itching to pull the trigger of his own gun. He barely stopped himself. He couldn’t shoot all four of them at once, and he couldn’t risk receiving return fire, getting himself killed, and leaving his family unprotected—or dead.
He inched back and tuned his hearing toward the backyard. Nothing. Whereas he could see the outline of a couple more people outside. Were they waiting for him?
Behind him was the study. The last room in the hallway. They couldn’t hole up in there, not with the French doors. Too much glass they could easily shatter. But he could use those doors to access the backyard.
His yard was huge. He could try to hide them, while forcing the attention onto himself—at least until his team arrived.
His alarm would have gone off the second they crashed through the windows. A silent alarm that went straight to his team. Not that it mattered. He’d already notified them. They’d be here soon.
He heard the small gasp from Willow behind him.
Janet stepped forward. Rob and Toby were two of the three men gathered behind her.
“Hello, Blake. Willow.”
Blake’s grip on the gun tightened, his stance widening, making sure Willow was covered. He shuffled back a step, hearing Willow do the same. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
Janet’s features hardened. “We’re doing God’s work, Blake. We need you to hand over Mila now.”
Willow’s heartbeat sped up. Another shuffle toward the end of the hall.
“You really think we’d hand our child over to you?”
The woman was batshit crazy.
She tilted her head. “What I think is that the child is innocent and needs protection.” Janet cast her eyes over him like he was the devil reincarnated. Then her gaze slid over his shoulder. “We can’t let any more abominations be created. You’ll all just multiply if we don’t do something. Soon the country will be crawling with you.”
There was a slight tremble in Janet’s arm. And the way she held the gun was all wrong. Both hands grasping the weapon, fingers interlaced around the handle, index fingers pointed. She wasn’t familiar with the weapon. But she still had it aimed at his family.
He tightened his own grip, taking another step back.
“We didn’t want it to come to this.” It was Rob who spoke next. Blake studied him, noticing discomfort with his weapon. In fact, they all looked unpracticed and nervous with the firearms. “We wanted a different outcome for both Willow and Mila.”
But not him. So they always planned to attack him or his brothers? Then what? “Save” his wife and child?
Hell no.
He shuffled back another step. Another step closer to the study.
“What’s your plan here?” Willow asked, a slight tremble in her voice. “To kill us? Take Mila? You know, the second you shoot your gun, she’ll wake. It’s a miracle she’s not awake already. Can you imagine what it will do to her, seeing her parents murdered in front of her?”
Smart. Willow was pleading to their compassionate side.
And right on cue, a flicker of remorse flashed over Janet’s face. She sucked in a quick breath. “Then hand her over. I’ll take her outside, and the guys will take care of you quickly.”
They were all fucking deluded.
“Come on, you don’t really have any other choice here,” Toby said, almost pleading.
That’s where the asshole was wrong.
Suddenly, Blake saw Rob’s trigger finger twitch.
Nope. He wasn’t doing this any longer.
Before anyone could anticipate his move, Blake swung his arm faster than the human eye could track—shooting the lantern and plunging them into darkness. He swept both Willow and Mila into his arms and raced into the study. Gunfire peppered the silence as he slammed the door closed. Pain radiated at his shoulder and side. Two bullets. Neither of them kill shots.
He ignored his injuries, breaking the lock on the French door and sprinting outside.
He moved to a back corner of the yard, depositing Willow and Mila behind the toolshed. The fence was too tall to climb with both of them, so hiding was their only choice until his team arrived.
Blake ran to the other side of the yard. He estimated his team would be here in two minutes, tops. That’s how long he had to keep the attention away from his family.
He’d just made it to the other corner of the yard when he saw them. Coming out of the house and from around the front.
Willow ducked down behind the toolshed. She could hear Blake across the lawn, making noise and taking the attention off them.
Fear tried to shake her limbs, but she kept them still.
Mila’s beautiful brown eyes looked up at her, confused and sleep-glazed. “Mama?”
Willow forced a small smile to her face. She felt like she was smiling in the middle of a war zone. So much danger surrounded them. But the need to put her daughter at ease was so strong it almost choked her.
“Hey, baby.” She kept her voice low. Blake’s yard was large, but there was always the chance they might hear her.
Mila rubbed her eyes. “Where are we?”
Willow pushed a lock of hair from her daughter’s face, every part of her demanding she protect this child. “We’re in the backyard. Daddy’s backyard.” Her mind scrambled to come up with something to say. Something that she could use to protect her daughter emotionally while Blake protected them physically.
“Where’s Daddy?” She scanned the toolshed, the fence, looking more awake by the second.
“You know how he protects people for his job?” Mila gave a small nod. “Right now, he’s protecting us.”
There was a small tugging together of her brows. “From bad people?”
“Yeah, baby. From bad people. Now, I need you to be really quiet for me. Can you do that?”
Mila swallowed, studying Willow’s eyes. Then she gave a small nod, tucking her head into Willow’s chest. Willow tightened her arms around her daughter.
Gunshots sounded around them. Loud shots that blasted through the otherwise quiet night. But the bullets were only firing for seconds when suddenly, she heard fighting. Hand-to-hand combat.
Then Willow’s stomach curled in dread when she heard something else…the shuffling of footsteps. Close footsteps.
Willow tensed, immediately regretting it when Mila noticed and straightened in her lap.
Janet stepped around the toolshed. The second her gaze fell on Mila, the gun disappeared behind her back.
Willow drew to her feet, pushing Mila behind her.
“Janet?” Mila’s voice was quiet and confused.
Janet’s eyes turned steely as they looked at Willow. “Do the right thing, Willow.”
“The right thing would be for you to leave. Get the hell away from my family.”
Janet gave a slow shake of her head. “I’m doing what needs to be done. That child needs safety. Something she will never have if she’s living with one of them. With multiple of them.” Her gaze went to Willow’s stomach in disgust.
“She’s safer with us than she is with anyone else.” Her voice was firm, her hand tight on her daughter’s arm.
Janet’s gaze skittered to the yard behind her then back. “I’m sorry for what you’re about to see, Mila, but they’re already here.”
Willow’s eyes widened even as Janet pulled her hand from behind her back.
She didn’t think, she just leaped, tackling Janet to the grass before she could aim the gun.
Willow wrenched the woman’s hands over her head, gun pressed to the ground. Tightening her hold on Janet’s wrists, she lifted them up and crashed them down as hard as she could. Then she did it again. Over and over, until the gun released, falling just beyond Janet’s reach.
The second it was gone, Willow freed a hand, punching the woman in the face. She swung back to do it again, but Janet’s fist slammed into her side. The woman raised a leg and kicked her away. Immediately, Janet rolled onto her stomach, stretching out, reaching for the weapon.
Willow jumped on top of her, hands once again going to her wrists.
“Janet, stop!”
Janet rolled, elbowing Willow in the process. “This is what needs to happen! Humanity needs to remain pure!”
Willow was only on her back for a second before tackling her again. “The only thing that needs to happen is for crazy people like you to be locked up!”
They both reached for the gun at the same time. Before either of them could grab hold, Janet head-butted Willow hard, sending her backward. Her brain fogged, pain shooting through her skull.
She blinked once. Twice.
The third time, she saw the gun being drawn—
Suddenly, Janet was yanked off her feet.
Willow couldn’t quite make out who held the flailing woman. Aidan? Flynn?
Then Mila was on Willow’s stomach, small hands on her cheeks. “Mama! Are you okay?”
Immediately, she wrapped her arms around her daughter, holding her close. When she sat up, she saw men standing around the yard. Not the men who had come with Janet.
Blake’s team.
From across the lawn, she saw someone striding toward them. Even though she could only see his outline through the darkness, she’d recognize him anywhere.
Blake.
The second he reached them, he dropped to his knees, tugging them both into his arms. He didn’t speak any words. None of them did. They just breathed each other in. Held each other. And let the quiet moment calm some of the terror inside them.
